A new Beginning
by LadyLene
Summary: After surviving the Governor, Madisyn and her brother seek the prison out for a place of refuge. Forming new alliances with a common goal to get rid of their mutual enemy, Rick and Madisyn get close but can it last with the Governor stalking their every move? *I'm not sure this summary does this justice but please R&R*
1. Hiding

**Author's Note: This is set after season 3 but before season 4...none of the timeline in season 4 has happened in my story.**

**Disclaimer:  I do not own any of this story except for the Original Characters of Madisyn and Petey. This is strictly for entertainment purposes.**

* * *

Chapter One

Madisyn was effectively stuck, she had no viable means of escaping this time and she'd trapped herself by climbing the stupid tree. She'd been hunting, or attempting to anyway, for her little brother and herself in the woods. He was only fourteen, the only family that she had left, and she was terrified for his life. She'd told him to stay in the little hunting shack they'd stumbled upon. It was falling down and smelled horrible, but it had worked keeping the walkers away…for a while at least. She saw movement to the left of the tree she was in and she made eye contact with Petey after he settled into the tree directly across from hers and too far away for her to get to him. There were at least a dozen walkers in between their two trees, they were straining to get at them. She hadn't realized just how close they'd been to the prison, but it was too late to worry about that now. She was sitting in this bloody tree and all she had was her machete that she'd stolen from her barn before they'd escaped. She should have been more careful where Petey was concerned, but she hadn't checked to make sure he wasn't following her out. She could barely make out his fear stricken face because the sun was setting on the horizon, she'd left the hut too late. She knew that the sound of her voice was just going to agitate the mindless beasts below, but she had to know if he was alright. She pushed her blonde hair out of her eyes and leaned forward as far as she could so he could hear her better. Her petite frame fit perfectly between the two branches that were shaped like a V. She was only five foot two, on the shorter side of it…her brother looked older than she did because he got the tall gene. She strained forward, letting her legs keep her firmly in place as she spoke as quietly as the space between them would allow.

"Petey, are okay over there?" His eyes were wide with fear, but she faintly saw him nod his head in the affirmative. She took a deep breath and tried to sound calm as she asked the next question.

"Are you bitten or scratched?" He let out a startled chuckle causing a few of the walkers to turn towards his tree and start reaching up, but she wasn't distracted enough to miss his answer.

"No Maddy, I'm not bitten, I promise that I'm okay…I'd tell you. What about you, they didn't get you, did they?" Madisyn almost sobbed in relief to hear that he was okay and relatively unharmed. It had gotten dark quickly, she could no longer see his face in the tree.

"I'm doing just fine, brat, we just have to figure out a plan. Do you still have your pistol with you?" They'd had most of their weapons taken from them, but in their haste to get away, she hadn't asked what he still had with him. She couldn't see his facial expression, but she did hear his scoff in the darkness.

"No, that one-eyed bastard took it from me, said that kids shouldn't play with guns. Now, all I have is my flashlight…a lot of good that's going to do us." She bit back a swear, she should have killed that asshole when she had the chance, but instead she'd escaped with her brother when the opportunity arose. They weren't prepared to spend the night in the woods, neither one of them had been able to grab their coats or anything really because all they could do was run. Despite being twenty-six, this unshaven maniac thought that her brother was older than she was at first glance. She had natural rosy cheeks and she'd lost most of her body fat as well as her curves from being hungry all of the time. That doubled with always working on fortifying their piece of heaven from the undead, she was all muscle and thin as a rail. It was winter, so the heavy clothes usually hid what womanly shape she did have left. She'd convinced this guy and his two lackey's that she was only sixteen. It was ridiculous, but no one ever believed her age, even before the walkers took over everything. She looked in the general direction of where her brother sat and spoke in whispers. He was playing with his flashlight, shining it around the stream, revealing part of the high fence around the outer prison yard. The poor kid had ADD and it was going to be a long night for the both of them, assuming they didn't catch a killer cold because they weren't dressed for the cold weather. She spoke to the dark, just to pass the time.

"I had no idea we were so close to the prison, but these guys are apparently his enemies so we'll find a way to get their attention tomorrow when the sun comes up." She didn't hear an immediate response, but he suddenly began to wave his flashlight erratically fast from side to side. A cold chill ran down her spine when she saw the answering lights a few hundred yards away, and it wasn't from the cold. There were several sets of fences around the prison and yet they still patrolled…it surely couldn't be for the walkers so were their inmates still in the prison? She was suddenly regretting her decision to seek these people out just because this so called Governor hated them. What if they were worse than he and his sadistic friends were? She looked over at her brother's tree and frantically called to him.

"Petey, turn it off, now isn't the time! We don't know these people at all, they could be just like those guys or worse, turn it off! We can figure things out tomorrow when the sun comes up." He hesitated for a brief second, but he turned the light off like his sister told him to. He had heard the fear and the solid logic in her words and sat shaking in fear in the silence and pitch black as the lights got closer.

* * *

It was Glenn's turn to watch the gates and he was very uncomfortable. He was bundled up, but it was still freezing outside. He couldn't believe that it was already winter again. The sun was just setting and it was getting dark very quickly, like it always did that time of year. He saw the movement of several walkers headed towards the stream behind the prison, but he couldn't see anything else. Keeping watch in the dark was always hard because they didn't have any fancy equipment to see, but it was always worse when it was cold. After about ten minutes of staring at the dark yard, unable to see much at all, Maggie came out with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders and two steaming cups of coffee. It wasn't great, but it was at least hot. She smiled prettily at him as she handed him his cup and immediately he was lost in her beautiful face. It was so easy to stare at her, he'd never loved anyone like he loved the woman standing in front of him. She giggled softly to herself until the smile slid off of her face and she began to point out into the yard.

"Glenn, look at that over there, someone is trapped out there!" Glenn frowned and followed her gaze and immediately dropped his cup, spilling the coffee onto the cold concrete. How long had they been trying to get his attention when he was so preoccupied with his wife? A flashlight was waving outside of the gate by the stream, which would explain the walkers suddenly migrating in that direction. He looked at Maggie and nodded that he understood.

"You stay here and keep an eye on them, I'll go tell the others." He ran inside the building and down the hall until he reached their cell block. Daryl, Carol, Hershel, and Carl were playing a game of poker at one of the tables and Rick was standing off to the side holding Judith. When they saw the look on his face, Beth immediately walked over and took Judith from him and Daryl jumped up from his card game. He was the one to speak, impatient to know what was up.

"What is it, Glenn, is it that son of a bitch?" Glenn shook his head, suddenly realizing that the room was filled to the brim with the folks of Woodbury, he was just so used to focusing in on his group.

"No, there is someone stuck outside of the fence by that little stream. They're flashing a light, waving it like they're trying to be noticed. I saw a lot of movement from the walkers head that way, but this just started. The light is high up, like the person climbed a tree or something." Daryl nodded and walked over the weapons table, picking up his arrows and crossbow.

"Climbing a tree is smart because they can't reach them, but it's not like they'll just wander off after a while…not when they know someone is up there." Rick was hesitant to act and everyone noticed it so Hershel addressed him quietly.

"What is it Rick, do you think this could be a trap of some sort?" He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"That thought did cross my mind." Daryl paused once he thought about it but quickly dismissed it.

"Come on Rick, this isn't his style at all. He's not the kind of guy to knock first, you saw what he did to Axel when he proceeded to shoot the place up. I say we go the outer yard and see what we can find out about it." Rick thought for a moment before nodding, he knew they needed to check it out.

"You're right, we can't just leave them out there if they truly need help. I think Glenn, myself, Michonne, Daryl, and Ty if you'll join us that would be welcome." Tyrese stood up from where he was sitting with his sister and Karen and went to pick up his rifle.

"You got it, let's go."

They didn't take any chances so they quickly took out the remaining walkers that were in their yard courtesy of the Governor before heading to the outer fence. They weren't going to attempt the gate until they knew what they were dealing with. They'd made it halfway when the light suddenly went off so they couldn't really see anything. Glenn suddenly got a bad feeling, why would they turn their light off if they needed help? Rick pointed his gun and looked through the scope to see if he could see something. He stared a long time and Glenn wondered if he was still seeing Lori when he lowered his gun and walked quietly towards the fence. He didn't quite touch it because their sudden appearance drew several of the dead back towards them…Glenn wished they'd all just rot away. It wasn't like they didn't have enough to deal with now that they had no idea where the Governor was, but the walkers just kept coming. Rick was looking up at the tree line and when he began to spoke, all eyes went to him.

"Okay, it's dark out here and we can't see you well enough to risk opening our gates and coming back there. I know you're up there, I did see the movement in the trees that I know wasn't a squirrel. We're friendly people and we have a whole community of survivors so if you want us to help you, you're going to have to talk to us." Glenn wasn't exactly comfortable with Rick giving away that there more people than just them and from the looks of Daryl and Michonne, they agreed with his objection. However, when a small, terrified voice sounded from above the ground, his anger dissipated. Glenn hadn't noticed when the old Rick had reappeared, but he was…slowly because his gut was right about this one.

"How—how do we know that you're friendly? You seem pretty heavily armored to me and I'm not so sure I want to come down from my hiding spot." The girl's voice was shaking both from fear and cold causing Glenn's reservations to completely disappear and walk to stand next to where Rick was.

"My name is Glenn, I was the one that saw your light and got the others to help with the walkers. We have to be heavily armored these days because it's not just the undead we have to be careful of. We have big walls and fences…some people have tried to take our new home from us. We try to help anyone we can so we're going to draw those walkers that are still over there to us. You jump out of your tree and Daryl and Michonne will meet you to make sure you don't get attacked…or attack us. We have to be careful the whole way around, but you have to be fast when we tell you to move…okay?" They didn't hear anything for some time, but a slightly more sure voice sounded than the one before.

"Alright, we'll play it your way but if you guys try absolutely anything, I will not hesitate…do we have a deal?" Rick clapped his hand onto Glenn's back and favored him with a rare smile before answering.

"Deal, we'll tell you when to move." Glenn watched as Rick motioned for Michonne and Daryl to head towards the gate and then he started to bang on the fence.

"Knives only guys, let's try not to use anymore ammo. Hey over here you stupid apes! Hey come this way!" Glenn, Tyrese, and Rick had an immediate response of walkers and they set to work of clearing them out. When they had no more at the gates, Glenn stepped back to shine his light on the scene. There were still two walkers that refused to leave her tree so Rick had to take them out with his gun. He clenched his jaw as he nodded at Glenn who looked up and spoke the orders quickly.

"Jump down now, the area is clear but it's so dark there could be more around." They heard the movements and when they saw two figures emerge from two separate trees, his jaw dropped open. He looked over at Rick in absolute surprise.

"Holy crap Rick, it's just two kids…how have they survived on their own?"


	2. Welcome

**Author's Note: Thank you for the review, I'm glad you like it so far. This is more of a filler chapter, no action, and basic character relationship building. Next chapter should be up later today :) Please let me know what you think.**

* * *

Chapter Two

Madisyn eyed the woman with the sword more than the guy with the crossbow, she just looked so dangerous standing there. Both facial expressions were almost hostile, they weren't as welcoming as she'd fantasized them being. The other three guys jogged over to where they were standing, but they made no move to take them to the main building. They were all staring at them in an incredulous way and she wasn't sure what to make of it. The guy in front of them was wearing an old police uniform and she wanted to feel the relief that sight should have brought, but there hadn't been police for some time…he might have just taken it. She gripped her brother's arm and she felt him tense up next to her…he was so scared and so afraid to let them see it. It was a sad truth that they were more afraid of the humans standing in front of them than of the horde of walkers surrounding the area. Madisyn gripped the deadly weapon in her hand tighter and took a step back, pulling her brother with her. The man smiled slightly, but it was a friendly gesture, as if he'd just realized they were being scary. His smile was so unlike the Governors crazy one, this man seemed solid. He lowered the blade he was carrying and stuck it into his belt. He handed the young Asian guy his rifle and then held both of his hands up in a surrender position.

"My name is Rick, I was the one doing most of the talking through the fence…Glenn here is the other one who spoke to you. Michonne has the sword, Daryl the crossbow, and the big guy here is Tyrese. I promise that we're not going to hurt you, but I can't bring you inside with that chopper you've got in your hand. You'll get it back when you decide to leave or once you've been here for a while…basically once we know that you're not a threat. If you'll just hand Michonne the blade nice and easy, we'll take you in where it's warm and you can get something to eat." The gentleness in his voice was so unexpected, it caused a small sob to escape from her before she could stop it. Her brother was instantly on alert, but he pleaded with her in earnest.

"Let's just check it out, Maddy, we can leave in the morning if you want, but you haven't eaten or slept in days. Plus…I don't want them to find us and you know we're no good at covering our tracks." She knew that he was right, those guys could be watching them right then and they'd never even see it coming. She looked over at the only woman in the group and realized they'd all put their weapons away. She reluctantly held her blade out to the other woman and allowed her to take the handle of it. Michonne took it carefully and held it quickly away from them…that was when she realized why they were being so kind. They thought they were dealing with two teens, they didn't know that she was an adult. They were starting to walk back towards the building when crossbow guy filled the silence.

"Are you two in some sort of trouble? I don't mean the walker kind, that's everyone's trouble, but you said that you didn't want them to find you…who are you running from?' Madisyn shared a glance with Petey, she wasn't sure she wanted to tell them that they'd been looking for them just yet. She stumbled slightly on the terrain and Rick touched her shoulders to steady her, but immediately dropped his hands without lingering like the others. She pursed her lips, there was no sense in lying to them, they'd saved their lives.

"We'd been surviving okay on our family farm when these three guys showed up pretending to be friendly. They begged for our help, said they'd run out of food the day before. My parents were good Christian folks so they helped, they didn't even think twice about it. The minute my pop opened the gate for them, they shot him twice and killed him instantly. They proceeded to gun down every male on the farm, our friends and neighbors…we'd been helping each other out. They found my brother and me, hiding, and they decided to let us live since we were defenseless kids. They've been with us for over a month and they…they killed our mom three days ago. They'd locked us up, but we took off in the middle of the night. I had to kill one of his cronies to get away, a fourth guy that just showed up out of nowhere and he'd been keeping watch. We've been wandering the woods ever since trying to dodge those assholes." Madisyn couldn't help it, she stopped in her tracks, unable to prevent the tears from falling. Her brother's arms wrapped around her as he cried with her. There had been no time to mourn the passing of their family or friends, only time to try and stay alive. Petey peeked his head up to look at them, his body shaking from his grief.

"Please…just don't hurt us."

* * *

Rick had never been so mad in his entire life. That wasn't exactly true, so much bad shit had happened over the last year that it was a never ending haze of mad. Looking at the two siblings, clinging to each other because they were both mourning and afraid that they were being led to a trap…his heart broke. From the looks of his friends, they were just as effected by these two as he was. Daryl walked into the gate they'd left open and disappeared inside the door that led to their cell block. A silent tear was rolling down Michonne's cheek and she quickly followed Daryl's exit, unable to witness anymore. Listening to the extremely thin girl describe what happened to her was absolutely awful. They'd survived the walkers with their whole family intact and some asshole comes along and ruins it. He had a sinking feeling that he knew exactly who was behind it, but he didn't have the heart to bring it up just then. Tyrese gave him a nod and left as well, leaving him alone with Glenn and the kids. When the boy raised his head, looked him in the eye, and pleaded not to hurt them, it was almost his undoing. Maggie, Beth, and Carol came around the corner and out onto the yard next to him. They stopped short because they didn't want to startle them. Beth took the initiative first and placed her small, gentle hands on the girl's back before speaking softly to them both.

"Hi there you two, I'm Beth. Why don't you come inside with me so that we can get you something hot to eat? My sister Maggie will find a room for you so that you can sleep too." Rick watched as they fell under the spell that was Beth. She was so good a calming people down, she probably would have been in some sort of health care if the world hadn't died. They pulled away from each other and followed the three women into the building without saying anything else.

The welcoming couldn't have gone any better for those two. Michonne, Daryl, and Tyrese had warned everyone what kind of shape the two newcomers were in and they were welcomed warmly into the growing group. His eyes found his friends mingling with the residents of Woodbury. If only Andrea had made it to see this, it was her dream for the two places to coexist peacefully. Maggie was sporting a small baby bump, she was now five months pregnant with her and Glenn's first child. Things would be different this time because Hershel had more than just Carol to help him out. Rheda, a woman from Woodbury, was an experienced nurse and they'd found more medicine on their last run. Beth was watching over Judith and the other small children playing. Carl was talking animatedly with his new friend, Patrick, it warmed Rick's heart to see his son bonding with someone close to his own age. Hershel was examining Petey to make sure he wasn't infected and to determine what kind of shape he was in. Rheda was looking slightly sour because Carol was examining Madisyn instead of her. He'd wanted someone he trusted taking care of these two. Hershel came out of the cell block, smiling at Petey, but when the boy walked up to Carl and Patrick tentatively, the older man's face grew grim. Dread filled his stomach as he approached his friend, Daryl hot on his heels. Hershel nodded at the two of them and Rick asked for some answers.

"Well he obviously isn't bitten, so what is the face for?" He was impatient for the cause of Hershel's unease. Hershel motioned for them to follow him inside of his room, and only then did he speak.

"The boy is fourteen and it's a wonder that he isn't bedridden. He's malnourished to a desperate point, I could count his ribs and see his pelvis bone. Whoever held them wasn't feeding them, but making them do manual labor in the yard. Sure, they gave them crumbs of food, but not enough to sustain a growing boy. No, he wasn't bitten by the walkers, but he was beaten. When I asked him about that or how they seemed to have found us, he clammed up real quick." Rick was very angry as he peeked around the corner to watch the boy interact with his son. They were pretty close in age, Carl only twelve, but how could a person treat a child like that? He stepped to the side so that Carol could walk into the small space of the cell, her face just as pensive as Hershel's.

"I heard what you were saying and she is worse off than the boy. Her pelvis and ribs are protruding almost and she has so many sores, scars, and scabs on her body that I can't even guess what they were doing. My guess is that whatever food they were given, she'd give half of hers to her brother to ensure he got enough." Hershel put his head in his hands, it had been a while since they'd seen something this bad. He groaned to the room without lifting his head.

"They're both so young, what kind of person or monster does it take to do that to children?" They were all startled when a timid, hoarse voice came from the entrance. Madisyn looked at each face before Daryl and Rick parted ways to admit her inside the now cramped space. It was obvious that she was nervous so Rick gave her a smile to try and comfort her.

"Good to see you again, Madisyn, did you get something to eat?" She bit her lip and shook her head, trying to get control of her emotions. They were all more than a little shocked at her announcement.

"I haven't made my way over there, but thank you for your kindness…I honestly didn't expect it. I want to answer your questions…well some of them anyway. Petey clammed up because I told him not to say anything. You have all drawn the same conclusion that those guys did, but it's not true. I had to make them think I was sixteen so that they'd leave me alone…what they did to the other women…I can't even describe the horror. You guys are different from them though so I feel okay in telling you the truth. I'm not a sixteen year old girl like you think, I'm actually twenty-six."


	3. Revelations

**Author's Note:**** Sorry for the delay, it took longer to type this than I thought it would. Here's a meatier chapter, some walker Fun is coming in the next chapter. I love reviews…hint hint, lol**

Chapter 3

Madisyn watched the shock flicker across their faces as she made her announcement, and she felt a fresh wave of fear. What if they got angry at her deception and wanted them to leave…or worse? At that point, the only thing she cared about was her brother. Hershel's eyes were wide as he stared at her, making her feel extremely uncomfortable. Daryl was staring as well, well they all were, but he seemed incredulous. She shifted nervously on her feet, afraid about the next announcement she was going to make. They needed to know what the guys at her farm were planning, but what if they thought that she was a spy. She knew the only resolution was to warn them and leave, they couldn't think she was helping them after that. She started to speak and nothing came out so she lowered her eyes and felt the sting of tears. She knew that she wouldn't be able to take care of Petey out there behind the fences. They'd been mostly sheltered from the walkers because of her father, so if they didn't get them…those men would. Before she could attempt a second time, Hershel's gentle voice washed over her, allowing some of her fear to melt away with it.

"It's okay, Madisyn, you're safe here with us. No one is going to hurt you, not us, and none of the people in the other rooms. You're small and you've lost so much weight that we assumed you were younger. If I had done the examination, I probably would have figured it out, but it doesn't matter how old you are…we're not going to kick you out or harm you." Madisyn nodded and looked up only to lock eyes with Rick, his expression was just as gentle as Hershel's voice. She cleared her throat and lowered her eyes again, she hated the vulnerability she was showing. She spoke to the ground as she continued to tell them what happened.

"My brother and I were trying to find you and your prison. We found an old hunting shack in the woods, practically falling down." Someone touched her shoulder when she paused, causing her to meet Rick's eyes once more. They weren't menacing at all, but a mixture of pity and burning curiosity.

"What do you mean that you were looking for us? Tell us exactly what happened after these men took over your farm, how did you know where to look for us?" Madisyn nodded again, knowing that they needed to know so they could protect themselves.

"Petey and I were barely surviving on that farm, they only fed us scraps once a day. They…used the women and eventually killed them too. My mom was the last to go, she ran into the room we were being held in and whispered for me to never let them know how old I was. The mean one killed her right in front of us…he enjoyed it. I couldn't bear seeing Petey lose so much weight, he was so hungry. I snuck out of the room and crept to the kitchen when I overheard what they were planning. They knew about you guys here and they wanted to take you out. They were talking low so I didn't hear everything, but I was found out. I don't know which one, but one grabbed me and threw me into the barn. My brother was beaten and thrown in with me about an hour later, they were going to kill us. My father had hidden some weapons in the barn from our neighbors and from Petey to be safe, but I knew where they were. I'd heard enough about you guys here to hope that you might help us, plus I wanted to warn you. These men are beyond crazy, they were talking about how you deserved to die and he'd take the people that rightfully belonged to him back. If I had known exactly how close you guys were, I would have kept looking. It was so dark and we couldn't see and we just walked into a group of those things. I was hoping that we could stay here with you, we'd work for our keep, but if you'll feel more comfortable with us leaving than we can do that too." Daryl spoke up from her left causing her to jump slightly, she hadn't expected him to be so close.

"Who were these guys that were doing this to you, can you describe them to us?" Madisyn saw their faces every time she closed her eyes and she suspected that she would for years…if not for the rest of her life.

"Their leader is a one eyed man called Phillip, but the scariest is one of his buddies…Martinez. He's the one that killed my mom, he's absolutely nuts." No one smiled at all to comfort her, but none of them looked surprised by her announcement either. Daryl swore under his breath, turned around, and punched the wall as hard as he could.

"I knew we should have killed that son of a bitch! We should have been hunting him down like we'd planned, not taking in strays until all of this was sorted. Now we have women and children who can't protect themselves from this guy." Madisyn flinched when he punched the wall again. She turned to Hershel whose eyes were dark as he stared at the ground. Carol pursed her lips, wringing her hands but stayed silent. Rick's face was the scariest, he had the same cold expression that Martinez wore as he shared a look with Daryl. His voice was as cold as ice and a shiver of dread filled her stomach as she spoke.

"You're right Daryl, I should have killed him that day in the barn. We can hide the children, but every able body who can hold a gun can protect themselves. We're bigger now because of his people joining us so they can help us get rid of this bastard once and for all." No one paid attention to her as she began to back up out of the cell, no one that is except for Hershel. He sighed heavily and attempted to break up the chit chat that Daryl and Rick were having, but they just ignored him and kept plotting death. These people were no better than those who stole her life away. She'd ended up putting Petey smack in the middle of an old fashioned turf war. Before Hershel could draw any more attention to her departure, she turned on her heel and fled into the common area. She found Petey sitting with two boys around his age and her throat felt heavy as she tried to suppress her frightened tears. She was aware of the eyes that followed her to their table, especially the woman with the sword. He smiled up at her as she approached their table and her heart broke because of the decision she had to make…she just hoped she was able to get him out. He pointed to the empty plate in front of him and her heart soared that he'd been able to eat his fill. His voice was back to normal as he address her, it was no longer small and timid as it had been the last several weeks.

"Hey Maddy, were you able to get something to eat yet? Beth made it, it's so much better than the tuna they kept giving us at the farm." Maddy stretched a smile onto her face, trying to give the air of cool calm as she placed her hand on his shoulder. Despite her attempt, his smile fell off of his face when he really looked at her, he could tell something was off, but she forged ahead anyway.

"I'm glad that you got to eat, but we need to get out of the area. I told them all about those guys and it's time for us to leave." The smallest of the three boys, sitting across from Petey, frowned as he looked back and forth between the two of them.

"You don't have to leave, honest, we have plenty of room." Petey looked up at her expectantly, but at her facial expression, he stood up with his plate in his hand. He walked over to the blonde girl and handed it to her with a weak smile, but she just looked at Madisyn with an alarmed frown.

"You two should at least wait until morning, we don't usually open the gates up at night." Madisyn suddenly got a panicked feeling in the pit of her stomach as she looked at the faces around her.

"We're not allowed to leave?" Beth would not meet her eyes and Madisyn just felt more and more backed into a corner…she hadn't expected she'd have to escape for a second time.

Maggie was the second person to notice Madisyn's departure, realizing a little too late that her father had tried to calm the air before she got too frightened. This poor woman was absolutely traumatized by what these guys did to her family and here they were making it worse. They'd all had a bad reaction to hearing about the Governor's return to the area and they'd had no tact at all when they'd started hashing out a plan. Rick groaned into his hands when he realized that they'd just made things worse for the newcomer. She walked side by side with him to the common area, hoping to salvage the situation. She knew that Rick was upset because he no longer wanted the burden of full responsibility, but when it came to organizing their fighting, he was their best shot. When they walked into the common area, all eyes were on her sister and the two they'd rescued. They weren't able to make out her softly spoken request, but she clearly heard Beth's reply and Maggie's heart dropped. It was normal for them to keep new people for a little while to make sure they weren't a threat to their safety. These two had just escaped a horrible situation and she knew that this was going to justifiably warrant a bad situation. Everyone heard the terrified panic in the woman's voice as she responded to Beth.

"We're not allowed to leave?" She felt Rick stiffen next to her and Maggie dreaded the words that she knew were going to come out of his mouth.

"No, unfortunately you are not allowed to leave. Look, we don't know you any better than you know us, but we've just taken you inside our home. Regardless of your association with the Governor and his goons, we can't take it on faith that you won't go back to him." There was a general gasp in the room at Rick's statement about the Governor and Maggie had to close her eyes against the accusatory glare from the other woman as her voice broke to respond to Rick's statement.

"So basically you're telling me that I was a complete fool to try and warn you because you're just as bad as they are. Thanks for the warning on that because if you'd told me upfront that I couldn't leave once the door opened, I'd have passed, because I'd rather be back up in that tree surrounded by the walkers than to be a prisoner again." Maggie saw Rick flinch as if he'd been slapped and felt the atmosphere getting hostile very quickly so she jumped in to try and diffuse it.

"Of course you're not a prisoner, we're not going to lock you in a single room like they did. You'll have free reign of the prison…the parts that are safe of course, but for your safety and more importantly, ours we can't let you leave just yet. Look, you're half-starved to death and you're suffering from sleep deprivation. So, let's get you something hot to eat and a warm bed to sleep in. We can talk about all of this tomorrow." Rick glanced at her from the corner of his eye and threw her an appreciative smile. Madisyn, unfortunately, just narrowed her eyes as she looked at the two of them, her arm protectively around her brother as if they were going to rip him away.

"You don't have to tell me what I'm suffering from, I'm a doctor and I'm living it. I don't trust you any more than you trust me so I'll pass on the food, thanks. Why doesn't the warden here just show us to our cell?" There was an awkward moment where everyone looked everywhere except to the four of them. Rick worked his jaw, visibly upset about how the tide had turned, but tried to speak calmly.

"We have enough rooms for both of you to have your own, if you'd like." Maggie watched the other girl purse her lips and pull her brother even closer to her side.

"You just try and separate us, we're staying together. Well, what are you waiting for, take us to our cell, Warden, and put us in our corner." Maggie watched as he turned on his heel and led them into their cell block instead of the one reserved for the Woodbury residents…interesting.

Rick was a jumble of emotions as he led the two of them up the steps and over his own room. He didn't want these two to wander off in the middle of the night, the walkers were still wandering into the corridors. It bugged him that the girl would rather starve to death than to accept their hospitality. She needed to eat, but she was so scared that she wasn't going to accept anything from them. He'd have to see if Maggie or Carol could remedy that in the morning. It bothered him even more that she thought he was capable of the horrific things the Governor had done to her family, granted she didn't know him. Even if they had have let them leave, it was obvious just how green these two were. They'd been protected by their father and the others from her neighborhood, he wondered if she'd even killed a walker before. The governor could be scouring the woods for them anyway and he didn't want them to walk right back into that. She stomped noisily on the stairs behind him, acting like the child she'd been pretending to be. She'd said that she was a doctor, something they sorely needed, he just hoped that she woke up in a better mood. He led her to the room in between Carol's and Daryl's, they'd help keep an eye on them. He turned to leave them to it, but paused to look over his shoulder at her.

"We don't lock these cells, you are not a prisoner, and I am nothing like that sadistic son of a bitch that took your family from you. He's taken several members of my family from me, but I do understand how scared you are. I promise that we're not going to hurt you, we're nothing like them." He saw her clench her jaw and stare at the ground as she spoke words meant to hurt.

"Well you couldn't prove it by me."

Rick had never been so rattled by another person and he found that her dislike of him bothered him more than he cared to admit. He fell asleep fitfully, never really getting comfortable. The sounds of people's slumber all around him as everyone drifted off didn't calm him as it normally did. He wished that he'd taken the shift from Glenn, but Maggie was already out there keeping him company. Rick was letting Carl and Patrick keep watch in the common area. It was something they'd started doing to make sure none of the new members were up to no good or if a Walker somehow stumbled into their corridor. He fully expected both boys to be sound asleep when he found them in the morning and he looked forward to teasing his son. He finally drifted off to sleep with that thought in his head, but the restfulness was short lived. He felt as if he'd just fallen asleep when Carl was shaking him awake, his voice shaking with fear.

"Dad, you have to wake up! Those two were led into the corridors, I don't know who's helping them, but they're gone. I couldn't see who was leading them and I couldn't stop them short of shooting them, you have to get up, they don't know!"


End file.
